Heart to Heart is a one-day retreat that will provide you with the tools necessary to communicate with your patients and their families when they are approaching the end of life. The skills gained from this program although targeted at your palliative patients will be translatable to all aspects of your medical practice.

Program Description: Four standardized families will be used to act out difficult communication scenarios. The participants will have an opportunity to interview the families. A discussion will follow each scenario that will assist in bringing out the important learning points in each case.

Topics Include:1) General principles in communicating with patients and their families at the end of life2) Conducting a family conference3) Conducting a complicated pain history 4) Managing transitions to palliative care 5) Responding to a patient with a request to die

Offered By: The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care; The Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; and The Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care

This Program is Funded by the Government of Ontario. Priority will be given to physicians currently practicing in Ontario. Enrollment is limited.